Carla Saulter has been living without a car—and using public transit as her primary form of transportation—since March of 2003. Though she gave up driving because of concerns about the detrimental effects of car culture (pollution, traffic, sprawl), the decision has profoundly and positively changed her life. Some of these positive changes include: enforced exercise, time to read, reduced expenses, and contact with her community on a level that would never have been possible in the isolated bubble of a single-occupancy vehicle.

Who says waiting for the bus is boring?

I shared a wait with these guys at the 43 (et al) stop at Pike and 4th. Our friend in the stripes (the apparent love child of Radio Raheem and Antoine Marryweather) and his two sidekicks (probably in diapers around the time boom boxes hit their heyday), kept me entertained, dancing and lip synching to J-Lo’s “Love Don’t Cost a Thing” (and other selections I did not previously associate with 80s-style boom boxes or men under 22) until my bus arrived.